Roll back collector rate, property tax hike: MP

Former Union Minister and local MP Manish Tewari today demanded withdrawal of the exorbitant hike in property tax and collector rates in the city.

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Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha during the time allotted for Matters of Urgent Public Importance today, Tewari noted that the whopping hike in the property tax and collector rates for the sale and purchase of units was apparently done to meet the municipal expenses of the city, which was “supposedly bankrupt”.

BJP leaders meet chief secretary

Opposing the hike in property tax, BJP state president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla, councillors and senior leaders of the party on Thursday met UT Chief Secretary Rajeev Verma and demanded an immediate rollback of the levy.

The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Chief Secretary, stating that the hike was an unnecessary financial burden on residents and completely unacceptable.

The Mayor said, “The people of Chandigarh are already struggling with inflation. Raising the tax is completely unjust.”

“If the Administration did not withdraw the tax immediately, the BJP will take to streets and hold a major protest,” said Malhotra.

He said the Municipal Corporation should get 30% of the total grant allocated to the UT under the Union Budget, according to a formula evolved by the Delhi Finance Commission.

The MP said: “This year, Rs 6,100 crore had been allocated to the UT. This means, the MC should get between Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,800 crore to meet its various expenses.”

Tewari stated that the MC got only about Rs 570-580 crore, which was far less than the 30% recommended by the Delhi Finance Commission and even the 15th Finance Commission for inter-se devolution of resources between states and their respective urban local bodies.

The former minister said all revenue-generating departments were with the Chandigarh Administration, while the one that required substantial expenditure were under the MC.

Asserting that the exorbitant hike must be withdrawn immediately, he said, it would put the residents of Chandigarh under extra financial burden even as they were already reeling under financial strain due to the high cost of living and rising prices of essential commodities.

He pointed out that most of the Chandigarh residents were working class like employees or retired people, who could not afford the additional burden imposed on them by way of exorbitant property tax and hiked collector rates.